Gamers get first taste of "Black Ops" at The Club

The "Call of Duty: Black Ops" Tournament was held at The Club on Nov. 9, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sponsored by the GameStop in Sulphur Springs, the tournament continues what its event coordinators hope will become a tradition after the success of 2009's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" tournament.

The tournament coincided with the release of "Call of Duty: Black Ops" to promote the game. Setup for the tournament began in The Club on Monday, Nov. 8. Two replica bunkers were set up at the end and in the middle of the room with four television sets hooked up to Xbox 360s. Activity in the game was displayed on the televisions on the back wall. In addition to the decorative bunkers, The Club also had a "Mess Hall" area where jalapeño poppers were served.

By 3:50 p.m., spectators filled The Club as the teams gathered for registration. The game mode of the tournament was team deathmatch with five minute time limits in round one, 10 minutes in round two and the semi-finals, and a 20 minute best two out of three match for the finals. The 34-man teams competed for a chance to win the limited "Prestige" edition of the game, which includes a steel book case, a medal with its display case, four exclusive co-op levels and a real RC-XD remote-control vehicle. Second prize was a copy of the game with the limited edition strategy guide and third prize was a copy of the game. Raffles for other miscellaneous prizes were held at the end of every round for all tournament attendees.

Only one member was required to complete the registration process, which freed the others to focus on their game strategy.

"It's all about the teamwork," Team Ramrod member Shayne Bachman said. "It depends on how well they can listen and how well I can listen."

As the registration period came to a close, the feeling of competition began to take full effect. The "Modern Warfare 2" tournament champions were particularly ready to jump into action. Member of Team boTH Crowns Kevin Brooks said, "Good luck to all of the others," while his teammate Andre Miller said, "May they rest in peace."

Round one of the competition began with Team boTH Crowns battling against Team Sodom Me Elmo. Although the former champions delivered the first kill of the tournament, the first match of the game went to Sodom Me Elmo.

The teams played on numerous maps including bunkers, military training courses and even replicas of Cold War era American neighborhoods. The matches ranged from wins with long leads to final point totals within single points of one another. There was even an angry outburst over one team's disqualification for failing to meet the conduct of pre-match setup. Despite the emotional intensity of the competitors, however, the crowd calmly conveyed their excitement.

"I'm enjoying it all," spectator Kevin Grubbs said. "They're pretty entertaining so far."

Some crowd members even made predictions on who would earn first place.

"I've got to go with In DAK We Smack," spectator Chris Bishop said. "I think they have a chance to be number one right now."

After hours of competition and a tie breaking match which resulted in Team The Prestige taking third place, the tournament reached its end at the final round, with Team In DAK We Smack taking on Team Sodom Me Elmo for first place. The final match lasted for three rounds with each team competing to win two out of three matches for victory. Although In DAK We Smack took an early lead, the game and first prize ultimately went to Sodom Me Elmo, comprised of Team Captain Micah Glascock and members Justin Kirk, Clayton Giddens and Shayne Daniel.

"It feels great to get the game and I've been playing Call of Duty for a long time, so it's very exciting," Glascock said. "We knew we were pretty good, but it always feels nice to make it this far."

Club coordinator Wayne Grabow said that he was inspired to set up the event after the success of last year's "Modern Warfare 2" tournament and hopes to make it an annual occurrence.

"We did a big tournament with the release of ‘Modern Warfare 2 that was a huge hit and it just happened that at the same time of the year, Black Ops came out," Grabow said. "Hopefully, somebody else will come out with a game sometime around the fall so we can give the students opportunities to win great prizes."